Basic vs professional packages

A. The savings and benefits you get from professional packages (also known as packaged banking) can be substantial. the most significant benefit is a heavily reduced interest rate. interest rate discounts generally start at 0.25% and can go up to 0.70% off the standard variable rate, depending on the size of your loan and on your lender.

Professional packages may also offer free setup fees, gold credit cards without annual fees, fee-free transactions and savings accounts, and a range of discounts on other banking products.

The downside? You have to pay an annual fee of around $400 for the privilege – which means if you don’t use the bells and whistles, you will be paying for nothing.

On the other hand, basic loans offer minimum features with no ongoing fees and all the other services linked to your mortgage can be added on a standalone basis, which means if you think you are not going to use a certain feature, you do not have to take it and pay for it. this type of loan is suitable for investors or for first homebuyers who want a cheap and basic home loan.

As always, understanding your situation and carefully working out the costs and savings can help you pick the right type of loan.

With interest rates at their lowest for more than 50 years, there are some great rates available. The best thing to do is to compare rates from all the lenders. Let us help take the leg work out of doing this - Compare Home Loans now